Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Surveying the Waiting Room

Last week a van rear-ended my truck. I got out and the lady got out. She was very nervous, I suppose she thought I was going to give her a good chewing out and sue her. I saw no damage on either vehicle, so I told her to forget it. We didn’t even swap names or insurance companies.

Then Monday at the post office parking lot a man came up and told me my tail light was out. The first thing I thought was the lady that hit me, that sudden jar must have knocked it out.

Then I promptly forgot about it.

I was reminded when my wife was talking about carrying her car in for service. So, early this morning, before I forgot again, I took the truck in to the Chevvy dealer to have the tail light replaced and the oil changed, it was about time anyway.

They told it would be about 45 minutes. I brought a Stephen King book along expecting a stay. So, I went to the waiting room, poured myself a cup of coffee and hunkered up for some uninterrupted reading.

After a while I began to look around me in the waiting room. Curiously enough, there were 4 men and 4 women sitting there. One woman was on her cell-phone getting some of her office calls out of the way. One woman had an old fashion ringed notebook, making entries and more entries, I don’t think she stopped. Two of the women had laptop computers or maybe one or both had those electronic notebooks I heard about, but either way, there were working while waiting. Three of the men were watching TV and I was reading.

That makes four women that brought their work with them to do while waiting. And it makes four men that did not.

Although to give us males a little credit, it looked as if all four of us were retired. We have already been turned out to pasture, so no more workee.

When my kids were teenagers I used to wonder why they dressed like they did, like a certain type of uniform for their certain group of friends. One son dressed preppy with name brands, very yuppish. The other one wore a lot of black, pants drooping, and hair down to his neck. Both of them were wearing clothes they found pleasing to their peers.

So, here I and three other men, probably all retired, with our certain look. As far as I know none of us knew either other. We each had on tight-ass Levis, sweat-shirt or tee-shirt with a light jacket, and a baseball hat that mostly covered the forehead.

I was just as guilty as my two sons, “dressing the part.”

3 comments:

kenju said...

What is it with baseball hats? I understand wearing them when you are out in the sun, but why wear them indoors? I really hate to see that; especially in restaurants (even fast-food ones).

Eddie said...

I suppose I wear my ball cap for vanity. I don't want to show off my bald head, but also for red-neck reasons.
I never wear it in restaurants or people houses, including my own, but I have no qualms about wearing it in public hall or public waiting room.
You can take the redneck out of redneckville, but you can't take the redneckville out of the redneck, or something like that.

Carolyn said...

My stepsons were the same way. The oldest one was very into girls, so he dressed sharp, wanted more expensive clothes, & worried over his hair. The younger one wore the baggy's with holes that showed the paisly print boxers through them. That was the look, complete w/paisley boxers, lol! Now they both work at the same company and dress the same, a little "mid way" between how they each dressed in their high shcool and college years.